TRC57 Speaker Series

an Indigenous learning series

Dr. John Borrows

Topic:What if reconciliation with one another is impossible without first reconciling ourselves to the earth?

with Dr. John Borrows
Webinar Date: February 25, 2026 / 12-1pm PT
This opening conversation of the TRC#57 Speaker Series Season 6 launches our year-long exploration of Resurgence and Reconciliation: Indigenous–Settler Relations and Earth Teachings. To begin this journey, we are honoured to welcome Dr. John Borrows, co-editor of the anthology and one of Canada’s leading thinkers on Indigenous law and relational governance. Drawing from his chapter, “Earth-Bound: Indigenous Resurgence and Environmental Reconciliation,” Borrows offers a grounded and relational account of Indigenous law that emphasizes care for the earth, the importance of limits, and shared responsibility across generations. He invites audiences to reflect on Indigenous resurgence as an earth-bound practice—one rooted in Indigenous laws, languages, and responsibilities to the living world.

This session asks questions many Canadians are now facing with urgency:

- What do treaties require of us in a time of ecological crisis?
- What can Indigenous legal traditions teach about living within the earth’s inherent limits?
- How do responsibility, reciprocity, and love become legal obligations—not just moral ideals?
- And what changes when land, water, plants, and animals are understood as living relations rather than resources?

Through story, legal insight, and teachings drawn from Anishinaabe law, Borrows reminds us that reconciliation is not abstract or symbolic. It is practiced daily through how we live, govern, and care for the world that sustains us.

This conversation sets the tone for the year ahead, inviting participants to slow down, listen carefully, and consider what it means to live well together—in reciprocity with one another and the land—now and for generations to come.



Use the code Resurgence2026 to get 20% off your purchase through University of Toronto Press, plus, get free shipping on orders over $40
Resurgence and Reconciliation: Indigenous–Settler Relations and Earth Teachings
Edited by Michael Asch, John Borrows and James Tully
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Use the code TRC57 to get 20% off your purchase through UBC Press, plus, get free shipping on orders over $40
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About Dr. John Borrows

Dr. John Borrows is Anishinaabe and a member of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation. He is the Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and one of Canada’s leading thinkers on Indigenous law, constitutionalism, and Indigenous–settler relationships.

John Borrows’ work is grounded in Anishinaabe legal traditions and teachings and explores how Indigenous laws continue to live, adapt, and guide relationships today. Through his scholarship, he challenges the idea that Canadian law can be fully understood without Indigenous law, and he invites a deeper reckoning with how legal systems shape relationships between peoples and with the Land.

Widely respected as a teacher, writer, and mentor, Borrows’ work bridges Indigenous law, constitutional law, and political theory while remaining accountable to Indigenous communities and knowledge systems. His writing emphasizes law as a living practice—carried through stories, responsibilities, and relationships rather than confined to statutes or courts.

John Borrows has authored numerous influential books and articles, including Canada’s Indigenous Constitution and Law’s Indigenous Ethics, and his contributions have shaped legal education, public policy, and conversations about reconciliation and resurgence across Canada. His work continues to offer pathways toward more just, relational, and grounded futures.